Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration should take more action to combat Chicago's food deserts and focus less on issuing news releases touting progress on the issue, aldermen said Wednesday.

That advice came in response to a Tribune story that showed Emanuel's efforts to shrink the city's food deserts have fallen short of what he has announced.

Ald. Carrie Austin, 34th, said the time has come for Emanuel to "come with the hammer" on grocery store chains that haven't lived up to pledges to open stores in underserved areas of the city like her Far South Side ward.

The Tribune reported Wednesday that of the 56 new and expanded food desert stores Emanuel announced in 2011, 10 had opened. That included six of the 39 food desertstores Walgreen Co. said it would expand to offer fresh fruits and vegetables by this June and four of 17 new grocery stores the mayor had announced.

After the Tribune contacted several supermarket and drugstore companies this month about the gap between what Emanuel had pledged and what has been delivered, the mayor's administration rushed to declare "great progress" on the issue.

But Emanuel's aides moved the goal posts by narrowing the focus to a fraction of the city's food desert population — the 100,000 people who have the lowest income and live the farthest from stores. Before then, Emanuel had framed the issue in broader terms to emphasize that the problem was more far-reaching, affecting nearly 450,000 Chicagoans.

Ald. Scott Waguespack said the shortfall in ridding the city of food deserts — and how the mayor has portrayed the issue — illustrates how Emanuel sometimes operates.

"It's governing by press release," said Waguespack, 32nd. "You can't do it, because it doesn't always exist in reality."

On Wednesday, the Emanuel administration insisted progress has been made on eliminating food deserts.

"Our partners are working actively and aggressively to combat food deserts in our neighborhoods, and we have made a lot of progress, with more coming soon," Emanuel spokesman Tom Alexander said. "For grocery stores to open, there are many factors at play, and the process often takes much longer. We have been very successful and continue to try and serve more and more people, which is the priority."

Austin said it shouldn't be so difficult to get the grocery and drugstore companies to follow through on their commitments.

"It's not like we don't buy food, so why is it so difficult for (stores) to locate in our areas?" Austin said. "Why is it that the mayor has to pull out teeth with them to get them to go in these areas that have no grocery store chains?"

Leading research has shown that 70 percent of those who live in Chicago's food deserts are African-American, and Ald. Howard Brookins said it has taken time for the mayor to get a good grasp of the issue. "I really think the mayor was a little bit naive in not realizing how reluctant these companies are to building and opening up in African-American communities," said Brookins, 21st.

Ald. George Cardenas, 12th, said the city has to do more to ensure that stores open in food deserts. He said he has been frustrated with the lack of progress for a possible Wal-Mart in his ward at 48th Street and Western Avenue, a location that would reduce a nearby food desert, according to a city map.

Cardenas said there have been negotiations to buy property and an evaluation of startup costs. He said he's not sure if Wal-Mart is still committed to the area.

"I think we haven't had that conversation. Hopefully, the mayor will have that conversation," he said. "I, myself, am a little disappointed that they haven't reached a deal, because I want to see that job creation, I want to see that economic activity going on there. ... We have to have more sense of urgency."